Braiding machine



V 9 I w. E. KELLEY 2,847,897 I BRAIDING MACHINE I Filed April 3, 1956 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent cc BRAIDING MACHINE Walter E. Kelley, Pawtucket, R. L, assignor to Providence 'Braid Company,-a corporation of Rhode Island Application April 3, 1956, Serial No. 575,748

I 9 Claims. (Cl. 87-19) This invention relates to improvements in a braiding machine, particularly a braiding machine which is adapted for making elastic braid fabric.

In machines of the above type, the elastic thread is lead from a stationary guide to the former or braiding point of the machine, at which location the elastic thread is incorporated in the fabric. Although braiding machines are usually constructed with a stop motion for effecting stoppage of the machine upon breaking'or the running out of thread from the supply of each braider carrier, it is not usual to provide for stopping the machine upon breaking or exhaustion of the elastic threads. Thus,

detecting broken or runout elastic thread is dependent entirely upon vigilance of the machine a'ttendant.

An object of the invention is to provide a braiding machine so constructed as to efiect the automatic stoppage of the machine upon breaking of an elastic thread.

Another object of the invention is to provide a braiding machine so constructed as to utilize the usual stop motion responsive to the failure of a non-elastic thread when breaking of an elastic thread occurs so as to cause operation of the stop motion of the machine.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide in conjunction with the stop motion of a braider machine means for effecting the operation of said stop motion by breaking the non-elastic thread upon the breaking of an elastic thread.

Another object is to provide a thread severing means which will be actuated by:gravity to be moved into position to sever a non-elastic thread upon the breaking of an elastic thread.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view partially in section of a fragmentary portion of a braiding machine embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is an elevational view of a fragmentary portion of the machine of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows on line 2-2 ofFigure l but showing the cutter elementin a different relation;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of the upper portion of the elasticthread guide shown in Figure l but drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 4 is a sectional view through the thread severing means taken substantially along line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the elastic thread guide and showing the tension means carried thereby for applying a tension on the elastic thread.

In carrying out my invention, I arrange for severing a thread of one braider carrier upon breaking of an elastic thread so as to efiect stoppage of themachine by the use of the usual stop motion mechanism of the machine. The severing means may be a knife blade supported .in a

manner to be held normally at an inoperative location a 2,847,891 Patented Aug. 19, 1958 but actuated in response to a broken elastic thread to be moved to a location to be in the path of a thread of a braider carrier as it circles the braiding point to be severed upon engaging the knife so as to actuate the stop motion of the machine. It will be apparent that the thread of a single braider carrier need be severed to actuate the stop motion. To this end, I arrange for one of the braider carriers to guide its thread to the braiding point in a path different from the path of the threads of the other braider carriers, the knife being positioned to be moved only into such different path about the braiding point.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, only so much of the braiding machine '10 has been shown as is believed necessary for a clear understanding of the invention. A top plate 11 is spaced from a lower or bottom plate 12. The top plate 11 has the usual serpentine tracks 13 which includes the usual quoits 14, each of which is held in place by a hollow quoit stud 15 held to the bottom plate 12by clamp nut 16 and held to the top plate 11 of clamp nut 17. In the space between the two plates are positioned the horn gears (not shown) which are mounted for rotation about the studs 15 and drive the braider carriers 18 and 19 about the said serpentine tracks 13 in the known manner. Only two braider carriers are shown, but it will be understood that there is a plurality of braider carriers, the number depending upon the size and design of braid being made. The supply spool carriers or braider carriers are of well-known construction, and each has a base 20 which is adapted to be moved along the upper side of the top plate 11 in a serpentine path provided by the track 13 along which the carrier is guided by means of the guide web 21 engaging along the walls of track 13. A post 22 extends upwardly from the base 20 and rotatably supports a yarn or thread package 23 which has a ratchet base 24 engaged by a latch 25 to hold the supply relatively stationary during the braiding of apr'evious length of thread released from the supply 23. A weighted tension member 26 having a thread guide 27 is slidably mounted on a standard 28 which rises from thebase 20 and is provided at its upper end with a pigtail guide 29. The thread T is led from the supply 23 to a fixed guide 30, thence through guides 27 and 29. From guide 29 the thread is led to the former 31 whichis positioned at the central axis 31 of the said serpentine path. The tension member 26 under spring bias takes up the slack and applies a tension on the thread during the braiding of the length thereof drawn from the supply 23. During the braiding action member 26 is pulled upwardly along the standard 28 against a light compression spring 32 surrounding the standard 28. Upon a suflicient upward movement of the tension member 26, the same will engage and raise alatch releasing member 33 which is slidably guided on standard 28 and having a foot portion (not shown) connected to the latch to swing the same out of engagement with the ratchet 24 to permit rotation of supply 23. Upon the supply 23 being free to rotate, a length of thread will be pulled from the said supply. Thereupon slack in the'thr'ead will per'mitmember 26 to slide down standard 28 and take up the slack. Upon member 33 being free of member 26, the same will return to initial position to relatch thesupply against rotation. Should the supply 23 run out or should the thread T thereof break, the member 26 now free will slide down standard 28 to be in position as indicated in broken lines 26' to engage an element of a stop motion mechanism indicated generally 34s-o as to move the same to actuate the mechanism to stop and bring the machine to rest. The stop motion mechanism 34 is intended to be representative of any various-known braider machine stop motions which are actuated by engagement of the t'ensi'oning weight or member 26 in the movement thereof in the said serpentine path 13. In each of these stop motion mechanisms, some element is positioned at a location to be engaged and moved by the member 26 during its travel in the said serpentine path.

There is secured to the quoit studs guides designated generally 35 for guiding an elastic thread to the point of braiding. Each guide 35 carries an elastic tensioning device which is similar to the tension device disclosed and described in Patent No. 2,040,705, issued May 12, 1936, and to which reference may be had for a more complete description thereof. Each guide comprises a post 36 generally U-shape in cross section and secured at its lower end to the clamp nut 17. Its upper end (see Figure 5) has a cup-like member 37 attached thereto in which there is formed a semi-spherical cavity 38, the wall of which is provided with a central opening 39 therethrough. A semi-spherical button 40 complemental to the cavity 38 has a stem 41 which is hooked to one end of a pull spring 42, the other end of which has an anchor 43 engageable with any of a plurality of slots 44 in the opposite walls of the post 36 so as to change the tension of said spring 42. The elastic strand or thread E extends from a supply (not shown) and is led to be passed through the hollow quoit stud 15, thence upwardly within post 36 to pass through member 37 and thence to the former 31 to be incorporated in the braided fabric. plies a friction on the thread as pulled past the same.

The various elements and motions above described are known and are representative of known braiding machines. The improvement is characterized in the addition of a thread severing means which in the present embodiment is in the form of a cutter designated generally 45 and comprises a block 46 which is adjustably secured to the upper end portion of post 36 by means of an elongated slot 47 through which passes clamp screws 48 to threadedly engage the said post 36. A swingable arm 49 (Figure 2) is pivotally secured as at 50 to one edge of the block 46 and carries at one end a pair of plates 51, 52 (see Figure 4) between which a knife blade 53 is clamped by means of screws 54. The plates 51, 52 are notched as at 55 (see Figure 2) to expose the blade 53 which is positioned to be inwardly of the adjacent edges of the said plate as a measure of protection to the attendant of the machine and to form a guide for leading the thread to the blade 53 as will hereinafter appear. A wire 56 having one end formed into an open hook is adjustably secured to the other end of the arm as at 57. The arm is so weighted as to swing by gravity from the full-line position shown in Figure 1 to the broken line position indicated 49' in said Figure 1. In use, the hook is positioned to engage the elastic thread E as it leaves the tension member 37, and this holds the arm 49 in the inoperative position thereof, as shown in full lines in Figure 1. Upon breaking or severing of the elastic thread T, the hook 56 will be free and the arm 49 will swing through the action of gravity to inoperative position, shown at the broken line 49'.

As previously mentioned, the braider carriers are similar to each other, and the guide 29 in all but carrier 19 is at the same level above the bed or top plate 11. The guide 29" of carrier 19 is, however, positioned at a lower level. In Figure 1 the carrier 18 for the sake of clarity has been shown at an inner portion of its path of travel.

When this carrier 18 is in the outer portion of its path,

The button under tension of spring 42 ap- I carrier 19 guides its thread in a path lower than that of the guide 29 of the braider carriers 18. The thread T" from braider carrier 19 extends from guide 29" at an angle to clear the cutter 45 in the inoperative position thereof when held by the elastic thread E, as seen in Figure 1. Upon the severingor running out of an elastic thread, the arm 49 being free Will swing to position the cutter as shown in Figure 2 or the position shown in broken lines 49, which locates the blade 53 in direct line in the path of the thread T" when the carrier 19 is traveling the outer portion of its path. Thus, it will be seen in Figure 2 that the thread T" will engage in notch 55 to be guided thereby to the blade 53 and severed. This will free the tension member 26 to slide down standard 28" to a position to engage stop motion 34 to actuate the same to bring the machine to rest.

I have described the braider as having among its plurality of braider carriers a braider carrier which guides its thread to the former 31 at a lower level than the threads of the other braider carriers. This may be readily accomplished mechanically by shortening the standard 28. This braider carrier may be designated as a short braider carrier.

It has been found in practice that only one carrier need guide its thread at a different level. There is, however, a possibility that the carrier 18 may travel one complete turn about the top plate prior to its thread engaging a cutter 45 which has been swung into thread cutting position. Such a possibility is of no great moment in practice. However, it is conceivable that in some instances it may be desirable to prevent such possibility from occurring. To this end, a second or third short braider carrier 18 may be included in the set of braider carriers for the machine. The short carriers may be positioned at equal distances from each other among the other braider carriers of the machine. In using more than one short braider carrier, it will be understood that the spacing between the short carriers must be substantially greater than the spacing between the points of location on the stop motion mechanism engaged and actuated by a tension member 26 as previously described. Under any condition there must be at least one short braider carrier in the set of braider carriers of the machine.

In the use of the term thread in the description and claims, it is intended that thread be representative of any of various types of yarns or strands usually employed for making braided fabric.

I claim:

1. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying a thread to be braided, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to the point of braiding, a guide held stationary relative to said braider carriers for leading an additional thread therefrom to said point of braiding, one braider carrier having its thread guide carried at a location for leading its thread therefrom to said point of braiding in a path diiferent from the path followed by the threads led to said braiding point from other of said braider carriers, a stop motion operable upon severing of the thread of the carrier guiding its thread in the different path, and thread severing means operable upon the breaking of said thread from said stationary guide to sever the said thread led to said point of braiding along said diflferent path so as to effect the actuation of said stop motion.

2. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying thread to be braided, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to the point of braiding, a stop motion operable upon severing of any of the threads from said braider carrier, a guide post for guiding an elastic thread to said point of braiding, the thread guide of one of said braider carriers being carried at a location for leading the thread therefrom to said point of braiding in a path different from the path followed by the threads from the other of said braider carriers led to said former, and thread severing means operable upon the breaking of said elastic thread, to sever the said thread in said different path so as to effect the actuation of its stop motion.

3. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying thread to be braided, a former, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to said former, a stop motion operable upon the severing of any of the threads from said braider carriers, a guide post for guiding an elastic thread to said former, the thread guide of at least one of said braider carriers being carried at a location for the thread to lead therefrom to said former at a level different from the level at which the threads of the others of said braider carriers lead therefrom to said former, and thread severing means operable upon the breaking of said elastic thread to sever the said thread at the said different level.

4. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying thread to be braided, a former, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to said former, a stop motion operable upon the severing of any of the threads from said braider carriers, a guide post from which an elastic thread leads to said former, the thread guide of one of said braider carriers being carried at a location for the thread to lead therefrom to said former at a level lower than the level at which the threads lead from the guides of the other braider carriers to said former, and thread severing means movably carried by said post and responsive to the breaking of said elastic thread to be moved at a position to sever the said thread at the said lower level so as to eifect the actuation of said stop motion.

5. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying a thread to be braided, a former, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to the said former, a stop motion operable upon severing of any of the threads from said braider carriers, a post having a guide from which an elastic thread is guided to said former, a thread severing means pivotally mounted on said post and connected to said elastic thread to be held thereby in an inoperative position, the thread guide of one of said braider carriers being carried thereby at a location for the thread to be led therefrom to said former at a level lower than the level at which the threads from the other carriers are led to said former, said thread severing means being operable upon the breaking of said elastic thread to swing about its pivot to a position to sever the said thread at the said lower level so as to effect the actuation of said stop motion.

6. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying a thread to be braided, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to the point of braiding, a guide held stationary relative to said braider carriers for leading an additional thread therefrom to said point of braiding, one braider carrier having its thread guide carried at a location for leading its thread therefrom to said point of braiding in a path different from the path followed by the threads led to said braiding point from other of said braider carriers, a stop motion operable upon severing of the thread of the carrier guiding its thread in the different path, and a pivoted arm on said guide having a thread severing means at one end thereof and a hook at the other end thereof adapted to be engaged by said additional thread to hold said arm with the severing means thereon out of the path of the thread being led in said different path, said arm being swung by gravity action upon breaking of said additional thread to position said severing means into the said path to sever the said thread led to said point of braiding along said diiferent path so as to eflect the actuation of said stop motion.

7. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying thread to be braided, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to the former at the point of braiding, a stop motion operable upon severing of any of the threads from said braider carrier, a guide post for guiding an elastic thread to said point of braiding, the thread guide of one of said braider carriers being carried at a location for leading the thread therefrom to said point of braiding in a path different from the path followed by the threads from the other of said braider carriers led to said former, and a pivoted arm on said guide post having a thread severing means at one end thereof adapted to be engaged by said elastic thread to hold said severing means out of the path of the thread being led in said diiferent path, said arm being swung by gravity action upon breaking of said elastic thread to position said severing means into said path .to sever the said thread in said difierent path so as to effect the actuation of its stop motion.

8. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying thread to be braided, a former, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to said former, a stop motion operable upon the severing of any of the threads from said braider carriers, a guide post for guiding an elastic thread to said former, the thread guide of at least one of said braider carriers being carried at a location for the thread to lead therefrom to said former at a level different from the level at which the threads of the others of said ibraider carriers lead therefrom to said former, and a pivoted arm on said guide post having a thread severing means at one end thereof adapted to be engaged by said elastic thread to hold said severing means out of the path of the thread being led in said different path, said arm being swung by gravity action upon breaking of said elastic thread to position said severing means into said path to sever the said thread at the said diiferent level.

9. A braiding machine comprising a plurality of braider carriers for carrying thread to be braided, a former, each of said braider carriers having a thread guide from which the thread leads to said former, a stop motion operable upon the severing of any of the threads from said braider carriers, a guide post from which an elastic thread leads to said former, the thread guide of one of said braider carriers being carried at a location for the thread to lead therefrom to said former at a level lower than the level at which the threads lead from the guides of the other braider carriers to said former, and a pivoted arm on said guide post having a thread severing means at one end thereof adapted to be engaged by said elastic thread to hold said severing means out of the path of the thread being led in said different path, said arm being swung by gravity action upon breaking of said elastic thread to position said severing means into said path to sever the said thread at the said lower level so as to effect the actuation of said stop motion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

